Adjustable closure for containers



Aug. 22, 1939. J. w. MONEIL 2,170,335

ADJUSTABLE CLOSURE FOR (TONTAINERS Filed March 24, 1936 x1 1 a; .m

Patented Aug. 22, 1939 UNITED STATES ADJUSTABLE CLOSURE FOR CONTAINERS James William McNeil, Tampa, Fla.

Application March 24, 1936, Serial No. 70,600

14 Claims.

This invention relates to containers made of pasteboard or similar material and intended to hold powdered, flaked or granular materials capable of being poured through an opening.

One of the objects of'the invention is to provide a pouring opening having a metallic edge or frame member which serves as a guide and holder for a sliding closure member which may also be made of metal, or of any other suitable material. 7

A further object of the invention is to provide a closure member adapted to be secured in position within or upon the blank portion which serves as the top member of meat the types of l cartons which are shipped in the knocked-down form from box factory to the place where the cartons are filled, the closure being out of the way of the adhesive which is used in sealing the top on the package after it is filled.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a closure member which will seal the opening on both the inner and the outer surface when closed, which will provide sifting openings when partly opened, and which will fully uncover the 25 pouring opening when drawn to its limit of outward movement. I

Other objects of the invention, such as simplicity', ease of manufacture, low cost, and efficiency, will appear in connection with the description of several typical embodiments of my invention chosen for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the top of a carton with the sliding closure in open position; Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the same carton top with the closure slid to the position in which the sitter openings are in registration with the pouring opening; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on a much larger scale of the portion of the carton at one side of the pouring opening on about the broken line IIIIII in Fig. 2 showing a modification in which the loop handle is omitted; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view on the same scale as that of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows at the end of the broken section line IV-IV of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on approximately the line V-V of Fig. -1, of the modification shown in Fig. 3 in which the loop handle is omitted from the sliding closure which is shown in closed position; .Fig. 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal section on theline; VIVI of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a top plan view with portions broken away of a modified form of the invention in which the closure swings through an arc; Fig. 8 is a sectional PATENT OFFl CE REISSUED DEC 1 7 1940 view on approximately the broken line VIIIVI[I of Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is a plan view of a guide and closure member, the carton top not being shown, of another modification; Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 5 XX of Fig. 9; Fig. His 9. plan view of the closure member of another modification, only the lugs of the guide member beneath being shown, and the carton top being omitted; Fig. 12 is a fragmentary longitudinal section on an enlarged scale of the modification shown in Fig. 11, taken on approximately the broken line XII-XII of Fig. 11, but indicating the guide member in section; Fig. 13 is a fragmentary plan view of a still furthermodiflcation; and Fig. 14 is a longitudinal sectional view on the section line XIV-XV of Fig. 13.

In the forms shown in Figs. 1 to 5, the metallic strip I is cut'by radiating slits to form three tongues or flanges 2, 3, and 4, which are inserted through an opening 5 formed in the carton top 6 and bent out around the edges of the opening into close contact with the inner surface of the top 6. These tongues will hold the thin strip i securely in place while permitting its outer edges to lift slightly from the upper surface of the top. Substantially the entire periphery of the pouring opening 5 is covered by the tongues and no material from within the package can pass between the tongues and the top 6. At its rear corners, the strip has lugs l, I, which are bent upward and inward to act as guides and stops for the sliding closure member 8 which slides longitudinally beneath the lugs l and which has at its front corner similar lugs 9, 9, bent downward and inward to engage the lateral edges of the strip I.

The strip i lies in close surface contact with the member 8 at all points in the path of travel of the closure member and the lugs I lie in the path of travel of the lugs 9 to prevent withdrawal of the closure member from the guide strip as it is moved to open position. In Fig. 1, the wire loop I0 is pivotally secured to the member 8 at its rear end by a rolled-over portion II. It normally lies fiat on the top i but may be swung up on its pivotal connection to act as a handle for sliding the closure open or shut.

In the modification shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the loop i0 is omitted and the rear end of the member 8 is merely formed into a forwardly extending flange i2 which will engage the lugs I to limit the closing movement of the closure.

Another modification of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, in which the guide strip 55 l3 has a narrow flange I4 bent upward and in ward for almost the entire length of the strip to receive the side edges of the closure strip, extensions l5 of the same flange being formed at the rear end to engage stop lugs l6 at the front end of the transparent closure strip II, the rear end of which may be bent up at I8 to form a flange for the finger of user to pull the member to the rear to uncover the opening l9 formed in the strip H or to push it forward to close the opening.

.In punching out the circular opening l9, the metal is left with a cylindrical flange 20 around the opening, and after the strip is placed in po= sition on the top 6 with the flange passing through a similar opening formed in the top, the metal of the flange will be flared out by a tapering tool and pressed into firm contact with the inner face of the top 8 in the manner usual in forming metal eyelets or grommets.

A further modification is shown in Fig. '7 in connection with a familiar form of car-ton in which a hexagonal top 6 hinged at one side as at 2! is secured by adhesive to flaps 22, 23, 24, and 25, each approximately in the form of an equilateral triangle, and each hinged to its respective wall side, the top 6 also being secured by adhesive to the hinged side 26 of an inner flap 21 which has a portion cut out at 28 opposite the pouring opening 5 in the finished carton to avoid interference with the out of the contents. The top 6'is shown as embossed at 29 enough to hold the inner closure member 30 away from the adhesive which is usually applied to the cover member 6 before it is folded overand pressed down upon the flaps 2|, 22, 23, 24 and 26 The member 30 is conveniently formed in one piece with the outer closure member 30' which slides on the upper surface of the embossed portion of the top 6 by partial rotation around the corner at 3|. The metal connecting the members 30 and 30' may be folded inthe manner illustrated at the right in Fig. 12, which is a sectional view of a similar closure which slides in a straight line instead of swinging around a pivotal point. In each form, the top 6 has a slit cut therein through which the inner member slides in and out.

In Fig. 11, the outer member 32is folded at its rear end as indicated at 33, for convenient engagement by the finger of the user and the inner member 34 passes through the slot 35 and lies substantially parallel with the outer member throughout the greater portion of its length. At its front end, the inner member has a struckup tongue 36 which is passed through a slot or slit in the outer member andbent over to hold the two members together. A metallic guide plate I having rear lugs l, which may be identical with the same member in Fig. 1, is secured within the opening 5, the plate having a rearwardly extending slot 31 to receive the tongue 36 when the members 32 and opening 5.

The inner and outer members in Fig. 7 are also connected by a similar togue and slit connection indicated at 38.

The sliding member 39, in Figs. 13 and 14, consists of a single strip of metal having near one end a perforation 40 of substantially the same size as the opening 5. The top 6 inthis modification is provided with three slits, 4i, 42, and 43, the strip passing beneath the material between the slits 4| and 42 as shown at 44 and 34 fully uncover the over the material between the slits 42 and 43, the opening 6 lying between these two last-mentioned slits. Thus the perforation 40 in the strip will lie in registration with the opening 6 beneath the top. The top portion 44 in this form of device acts as the guide member for one end of the strip and the material at the ends of the slit 43 serves to guide the other end, the closure member lying partly inside of the top and partly outside. A corresponding action occurs in Fig. 7, the end of the slot forming the guide for the curved edge of the swinging closure.

Where it is desired to provide for sifting of fine material held in the container, rows-or groups of perforations of any suitable size will be formed in the portion of the closure slide which will first move across the pouring opening as the sliding member is moved from its fully closed position. Thus, in Fig. 1, a row of openings 41 is formed parallel with each of the two front edges of the V-shaped opening 5 and as soon as the closure member 8 is slid a short distance, these openings will lie opposite the pouring opening 5 in the top, as indicated in Fig. 2. In Fig. 7, the perforations 48 are arranged in a group large enough to cover the entire opening 5 as soon as the closure members 30, 30? are swung through an are slightly greater than thewidth of the opening 5. The broken line 49 indicates the front edge of the inner closure member 30, which has a sufiicient angular extent to form a complete closure of the inside of the opening 5 when in the A transparent slide will not ordinarily be used with materials which need to be sifted, and these perforations may, of course, be omitted, as is also the case in the slide 32 of Fig. 11 and the slide 39 of Fig. 13. Y

It will be evident that the closure members of the types shown in Fig. 1, Fig. '7, Fig. 9, Fig. 11 and Fig. 13 will not be imuriously affected by any possible contact with adhesive applied to the inside surface of the top member 6 when sealing up the carton after it is filled. They can be applied at the box factory when the pasteboard is prepared as a knockdown container and will not interfere with the shipment of such cartons, as flat bodies.

The description of the various embodiments of the invention is to be taken as illustrative and not in a limiting sense since it will be evident that many changes in form, size, proportion of parts, and mode of construction may be made without departure from what is claimed.

I claim:

1. In combination with a container having an opening in the wall thereof, a guide member on the outer surface of the container having portions thereof extending through the opening and bent outward for engagement with the inner surface of the wall to hold the guide member on the 75 wall of. the container, and a closure member guided by the said guide member and movable to open and to close the opening.

2. In combination with a container having an opening in the wall thereof, a guide member having central portions thereof extending inward through the opening and bent outward over the material forming the periphery of the said opening and in contact with the inner surface of the wall to form a tight closure between the guide member and the wall, and a closure member slidable upon the outer surface of the said guide member, and means upon one of said members engaging the other member to hold them in operative position.

3. A construction. as in claim 2, one of said members having a portion adapted to engage the other member to limit its sliding opening move ment.

4. A construction as in claim 2, one of said members having a portion adapted to engage the other member to limit its sliding closing move-- ment.

5. A construction as in claim 2, each of said members having a portion engaging the lateral edges of the other to hold them in close sliding contact with each other andto prevent their relative lateral movement.

6. A construction as in claim 2, in which the sliding member has a metallic loop pivoted at its rear end to lie flat on the container when in inoperative position, to swing on its pivotal connection for engagement with the finger of the user, and to engage the guide member to limit the inward sliding movement.-

7. In combination with a container having an opening in the wall thereof, a guide member having D ing and bent outward into close contact with the inner surface of the wall, a sliding closure member guided by the said guide member for movement from a position in which it closes the said opening to a position in which it wholly uncovers the said opening, the said closure having sifter openings formed therein for registration with the said pouring opening at a point between the fully open and fully closed positions -of said closure.

8. In combination with a container having an opening in the wall thereof, a guide member mounted upon the outer surface of said wall and secured to said wall by portions of said guide member extending through said opening and engaging the inner surface of said wall around the periphery of said opening, a sliding closure member arranged for reciprocation on the outer surons thereof extending through the openface of said guide member, means on said guide member-for engaging the lateral edges of said closure member to hold it in contact with said guide member at its rear end when closed and means near the front end of the closure member adapted to hold it in sliding contact with the said guide member.

9. A construction as in claim 8, the sliding closure member having a portion passing through the wall into the container through a slit formed at one side of said opening, the portion of the closure member within the container wholly closing the said opening when the said member is in the closed position.

10. A container having an apertured wall, a guide member secured to the wall around the aperture, and a closure member slidable upon the guide member and movable to three positions, respectively closing the aperture, registering sifter openings with the aperture, and wholly uncovering the aperture.

11. In combination with a container having a pouring opening, a metallic guide member having central portions struck up to extend through said opening and bent outwardly to engage the inner surface of said container to hold the guide member upon the outer face of the container, and a closure member mounted for sliding contact with the outer surface of said guide member and having inturned flanges engaging the outer edges of said guide member to hold it in contact therewith.

12. A construction as in claim 11, in which the guide member has inturned flanges engaging the lateral edges of the sliding closure.

13. A container having an apertured wall, a guide member having portions thereof passing through said aperture and bent outwardly around the periphery of said aperture to secure the guide member firmly to the wall, said guide member having flanges along its lateral edges bent inward to form guides for a sliding closure, and a transparent sliding closure having its edges lying beneath the said flanges for sliding movement from closed to open position.

14. A container having an opening formed in a wall thereof and having a slit formed in the wall at one side of the opening. a sliding closure member having a portion slidably engaging the outer surface of said wall and having another portion passing through the slit to engage the inner side of the wall, the portion of the closure member within the container wholly closing said opening when the said member is in closed position.

JAMES WILLIAM McNEIL. 

